Snowstorm Knocks Out Power For Thousands in Tri-State Area
NEW YORK (AP/CBSNewYork) -- More than 24,000 customers remain without power in the New York City metropolitan region and its northern suburbs because of blizzard packing high winds.
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Consolidated Edison says 6,000 customers are without electricity in Queens and 2,000 in Westchester County.
Con Ed spokeswoman Elizabeth Clark says most of the outages are due to high winds bringing down overhead lines. The utility says it hopes to have all power restored later Monday or by early Tuesday morning.
The Long Island Power Authority says it has 8,700 customers without power in Nassau and Suffolk counties. That's down from 12,000 overnight. The worst hit area is Babylon.
Spokeswoman Venessa Baird-Streeter says the hazardous conditions mean that power restoration will be slower than usual.
NYSEG reports that 8,500 customers in southern Dutchess, Putnam and northern Westchester are without power.
The National Weather Service has been reporting gusting winds up to 64 mph in some areas.
In New Jersey, more than 8,000 utility customers were without power Monday morning but officials say many customers should have service restored sometime later in the day.
Jersey Central Power and Light says about 7,400 customers had no service as of 10:30 a.m. The majority of them were in Morris and Sussex counties in northern Jersey.
Utility spokesman Ron Morano says numerous crews are working to restore power in those areas, but their efforts are being hampered by the weather. Crews are also having trouble gaining access to equipment in some areas.
PSEG reports that roughly 800 customers are without power, while Atlantic City Electric had less than 10 customers without service.
Meanwhile, high winds and swirling snow hit Connecticut overnight making travel difficult and knocking out power to thousands.
Connecticut Light & Power reported nearly 14,000 outages early Monday morning, with New Britain, Southington and Stamford among the hardest hit communities.
State police say the state's major roads are passable but Gov. M. Jodi Rell is urging drivers to stay off the roads unless absolutely necessary so hundreds of plow drivers can do their job.
Winds gusts as high as 55 to 60 miles per hour were reported in Madison and Greenwich.
Shelters had opened in some communities as the blizzard warning for the state is expected to last until about noon on Sunday.
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
